The Short-handled Hoe

This short-handled hoe was a gift to the National Museum of American History from Cesar Chavez's family. Agricultural workers in the Southwest stooped over crops to use the hoe, often resulting in debilitating back pain for those workers. In the 1960s union organizers started to organize farm laborers improving working conditions and pay for agricultural laborers. In the 1970s the California Rural Legal Assistance successfully sued to have the short-handled hoe banned as an unsafe hand tool.